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The Team at CallMiner
September 06, 2018
If you’re considering an outsourced call center, you might be wondering whether a BPO or KPO call center is best for your organization. In this post, we explore the concepts of BPO and KPO and discuss the key differences between the two. BPO and KPO are two types of outsourcing that companies often employ, particularly when it comes to call center operations. While BPO call centers handle processes on behalf of a client, KPO call centers are involved in the handling of information, knowledge, or data on behalf of a client company. KPO call centers are an offshoot of BPO call centers, and they’re utilized often when an organization requires a high level of specialized expertise. Here’s what you need to know about BPO and KPO call centers.
BPO or Business Process Outsourcing is a branch of outsourcing. It involves contracting out any function/segment/process to a third-party service provider. It can broadly be classified into back office and front office outsourcing. Back office outsourcing includes business functionalities such as accounting, finance or human resources. Front office outsourcing involves customer-related services such as contact/call center services.
As the name suggests, it is a process, an operation that is proven and predetermined. The executor of the process has to ensure that all procedures are executed in a consistent and efficient manner, no matter where it is located in the world.
There are several types of BPOs offering different services including:
The primary benefits of BPO are:
The primary challenge for BPOs is high attrition rate. The high attrition rate in the BPO industry is attributed to factors such as lack of career growth potential and the monotonous nature of the job. Additionally, there has been recent opposition against outsourcing from UK labor unions and US politicians in order to retain jobs within their country. This is a pressing concern from the BPO industry.
KPO or Knowledge Process Outsourcing is the outsourcing of important business- and information-related activities. It can be considered to be an extension of business process outsourcing, which can also take low-level decisions but requires a more complex and often a more technologically advanced system to support it.
KPOs can be a separate organization/company or a division of the main organization either located locally or outside the country to minimize cost.
KPO demands advanced technical, analytical and specialized skills from personnel involved in the process. Personnel are required to have in-depth knowledge, judgment and be subject matter experts in their domain. This allows them to make decisions on specific issues which may arise in the process.
Some of the major areas where KPOs can offer services include:
The primary benefits of KPO are:
The primary challenge in the KPO industry is acquiring and retaining professionals in the fields of business, finance, management, law, engineering and medicine. The other challenge is the growing competition coming from countries such as Russia, China, Ireland and Israel that are entering the field of outsourcing. Finally, KPOs need to constantly invest in the latest infrastructure and technology to remain on top of the industry.
BPO and KPO may seem similar, but there are some distinct differences such as:
Both BPOs and KPOs are beneficial in numerous ways for any company considering outsourcing. Which one you choose will be based on the type of business you have and what specific jobs you wish to outsource. The skill level and training required for your purposes will most likely be the deciding factor in your decision between a BPO or KPO.
As a leader among speech analytics vendors, CallMiner offers industry-leading omnichannel contact center solutions that drive call center optimization and improve business performance metrics. CallMiner’s conversation analytics technology captures and analyzes 100% of customer conversations across all channels, providing insight that can drive call center performance metrics and enhance omnichannel support. CallMiner simplifies customer touchpoint mapping with an automated journey map tool that delivers clearer understanding of the customer’s mindset and emotions. And automated performance scoring and detailed, real-time analytics of every conversation make it easy to monitor performance, implement call center best practices, and support the work from home call center agent.